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The Huron Expositor, 1995-02-15, Page 1ExHuro j sto 70 cents plus 5 cents (_i.S.T. (75 cents) SERVICE Seaforth Legion Branch 15% honours those who have, served for .,many years. see page five. Briefly i Police find suspects in Legion thefts Suspects in the string of thefts from area Legions have been located in Barrie, according to a Beacon Herald news report. A group of people from Barrie are suspected of robberies from Legions in 43 communities over the last 10 months. Seaford] Legion was one of the Legions recently hit by thefts. Other Legions hit included Stratford, New Hamburg and "Tavistock as well as Kingston. Provincial Police Constable Kevin Shelp is reported as say- ing the thieves took an estimated ti 10,000 in cash and merchan- dise. No charges have yet been laid. Hullett mourns loss of two prominent men The Hullett Township com- munity experienced the loss of two of its most prominent resi- dents last week when Deputy - Reeve Ronald Gross and former Reeve Hugh Flynn both passed ax ay. • Current Hullett Township Reeve Tom Cunningham said it ix a terrible loss for the com- aaunity. 'They have both served the community extremely well," said Reeve Cunningham, who served on council with Mr. Gross since 1981. Ilugh Flynn served as Hullett Reeve from 1967-74: He died at Victoria Hospital in London on Saturday at the age of 59. Ronald Gross was Deputy - Reeve for the past four years. He died at Victoria Hospital in London on Sunday at the age of .6. Creative writing award for students Commencing this year, a cre- ative writing award, established by the family of Minnie Sangster Noakes, will be awarded to a graduating student at Hcnsall Public School. The award is to commemorate the interest and dedication of Minnie Noakes in creative writ- ing. Noakes lived in Hcnsall for 73 years and. attended Hcnsall. Public School, along with her brothers and sisters. All of her eight children also attended I lensall Public School. Noakes persisted in her own education and returned to high school after she had raised her own family to complete her secondary school diploma. Cre- ative writing was a special inter - i and talent throughout her life, according to the award proposal. The award is to be presented to the graduating student at I Iensall Public School each year lio best displays and demon- suatcs an interest, ability and ;,ecomplishment in creative ‘.' riling. INDEX Entertainment... page 15. Sports...pages 8, 9. Letters...page four. "Your community newspaper since 1860...serving Seaford:, Dublin, Henson, Walton. Brussels and surrounding communities." The Huron Expositor, Seaforth, Ontario, February 15, 1995 This space could be yours! Call 527-0240 SHE[ 1 EY McPHEE F!AIST PHOTO SOUP'S ON! - The Huron County Chapter of the Heart and Stroke Foundation held a successful Soup Luncheon in Goderich to celebrate February as Heart Month. The soup is served by celebrity ladlers, including Bill Thibert, Chief Executive Officer of Seaforth Community Hospital; Lloyd Koch, administrator of Wingham's hospital and Ralph Wareham, of the Huron County Board of Education. More than 200 people from throughout the county attended the meal, which featured a selection of soups prepared by 13 Goderich-area restaurants from Bonnie Stern's new cookbook, Simply HeartSmart Cooking. Junior hockey gets reprieve "The Seaforth Ccntcnaires Junior "D"evelopment Hockey Club held off making a decision on suspension of activities for the I9I95-96 season until April 1 when its executive met last Wednesday. Only four of 11 current executive members indicated they would definitely serve next season: Dave Murray, Jim Campbell, Karsten Carroll and Paul McLlwain. The executive agreed the 21 - year -old franchise couldn't continue to operate next season with any less than three times that number of working volunteers, and- that if more don't become involved soon, suspending operations before the Ontario Hockey Association deadline of April 15 would save tIte hockey club morc than tih,(XX) in bond and re-entry fees and make it easier for any who might want to rebuild the - executive and bring the club hack within thc two-year OHA time limit. 'The executive also decided to hold a public meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Seaforth and District Community Centres to sec if it can attract morc volunteers to commit to next season. TIM CUMMINO PHOTO EYE ON THE ROCK - Greg Eigner, skip for a rink from the Highland Curling Club in London, intently watches a rock from the house during Cott Zone competition at the Seaforth Curling Club on Saturday. Huron Board says 'No' to amalgamation idea BY DAVID SCOTT Huron is not interested in amal- gamating with the Perth Board of Education. That's the message the Huron County Board of Education (HCBE) recently sent Dave Cooke, the provincial Minister of Educa- tion, in its review of the Royal Commission on Learning. Contrary to a recent front-page story in a Huron County newspaper that claimed amalgamation was "inevitable" and "imminent", the Huron board's Executive Commit- tee "fails to see the merit in school board amalgamation." In its letter to Cooke, the board stated that "the long history of cooperative efforts amongst the Huron, Perth and Huron -Perth Boards provides solid evidence that alternatives to school board amalga- mation are possible." "We can provide evidence of cost efficiencies and permanent long term cost reductions. We continue to explore various collaborative initiatives to exercise a working commitment for new ways of doing business during severe financial constraint," stated the letter written by Board Chair Roxanne Brown. Fire destroys Bayfield wagon, carriage works BY AMY NEILANDS Penhale Wagon and Carriage Works brought about worldwide recognition to the village and the surrounding area as its carriages were sent all over the world. The Carriage Works was started up in 1972 by Tom Penhale. He ran the company for a number of years building horsedrawn vehicles such as hitch wagons and such carriage models as Vis -i3 -Vis and Landau. The Carriage Works also restored horsedrawn vehicles, said Tom's son Rick Penhale of Bayfield. In 1989, Tom tried to retire from the carriage business and sold the company. When the company ran into problems, he purchased it back and continued to run it until 1992. At this time, he leased the business to Jim McGarrell of Goderich. McGarrell continued to run the carriage business at the time of the fire. Both •McGarrcll and Tom Penhale were in Florida at the time of the fire and as of press tittle were unavailable for comment. A historic Bayfield landmark.was lost in a fire on the weekend. The cause of the fire that destroyed the Penhale Wagon and Carriage Works in Bayfield has not yet been determined. The .Bayfield Fire Department responded to the call at about 7:15 p.m. on, Saturday, said Fire Chief Don Warner. The Clinton and Goderich Fire Departments were immediately called out on mutual aid to assist Bayfield with the fire: "It was a total mass of flames," said Warner describing the scene when the fire department arrived. "It was out of control," said Clinton Fire Chief Dean Reid: He said that when they arrived, all they could do was contain the fire to keep it from spreading. The firefighters were also busy trying to keep heat off of the propane tanks near the fire scene. The fire was extinguished at about 11:30 after firefighters battled the blaze for over four hours. London rink wins zone curling event Two rinks from the Highland Curling Club in London won during the Colt zone playdowns in Seaforth. The Greg Eigner team from that club won the 'A' side on Sunday and the Scott Ferguson won the 'B' side., The winning rink will travel to the regionals in St. Catharines on March 18. A rink from the Seaforth Curl- ing Club competed at the Colt Zone competition in Seaforth on the weekend. The team was Paul Dodds (lead), John McFadzean (sec- ond), Steve Dolmage (vice) and Todd Doig (skip). •*• A team from Huron County won at the recent Junior Farmers Zone Games to win the right to compete at the provincials. The rink, which will compete in Petrolia on Feb. 19, consists of Jeff Hoelscher, Tina Bosman, than Butson and Cathy Butson. A local team is headed to the Ontario final of the John Deere Farmers curling competition. The rink is Gord Prycc, Ron Pryce, Brian McGavin and Jeff IV1cGavin. They will be compet- ingn Feb. 16-19. Junior curlers at Seaforth Curl- ing Club were awarded the Patterson Ste. Marie Trophy for annual competition. The winncrs were Dianne Dolmage, Adrian Pcckett, Jim Ducharme, Joe Vandenhcngcl, Marissa Mackenzie and Kelly Ann Dalton. 'Three junior teams from Seaforth Curling Club arc headed to the John Deere Ele- mentary Schools Provincial Curling Championships at the Elmira and District Curling Club Feb. 17-19. Snowmobiles on sidewalks hazardous, board told IlY TIM CUMMING Expositor Editor Snowmobiles on public sidewalks could pose a safety hazard, a Seaforth couple told the Seaforth Police Services Board on Feb. 8. Jim and Penny Cardno said some snowmobilcrs have forced pedes- trians off the sidewalk. "We'd like to see what can be done about it," said Mr. Cardno. A former snowmobilcr, he said he wasn't against snowmobiles but the new snowmobiles are faster and more dangerous when operated on the sidewalks. Wore trying to teach kids to walk on the sidewalk and then you have to say, 'Don't walk on the sidewalk.' " The police have bccn quick to respond to any requests for help but there should be more education for snowmobilcrs about the bylaws in town, said Penny Cardno. "There should be something we can do to make snowmobilcrs aware of the bylaws." One suggestion was to post bylaws at entrances to the town along with proposed direction signs. Police Board secretary Jim Crocker said thc Brussels -Walton Trailblazers snowmobile club had intended to erect direction signs in Seaforth. The club changed its decision, he said, aftcr the publica- tion of an opinion column in The Iluron Expositor. Mayor Irwin Johnston sent q letter to the club in the hopes it would reconsider the decision. Q Efforts to increase access to town are hampered by those snowmobilcrs who don't follow town bylaws, said Mr. Cardno. "You read that (snowmobilcrs) want more access but if they behave like this they're going to have no access." Police Chief Hal Claus questioned whether the snowmobilcrs should be allowed in town at all. He said the Police Services had published advertisements reminding snowmobilcrs of the bylaws but that it hadn't affected their habits. ••• Police officers in Seaforth may not be able to spend extended periods of time at the arena. A standing order has been issued limiting thc amount of time officers can spend at the arena unless they have been specifically called there. The order was issued in response to concerns by the Police Services Board. Police Chief Hal Claus warned, however. there are problems with issuing standing orders dictating how long police officers can stay at a certain place. "Sooner or later you'll have a complaint of neglect of duty," he said. "Once you put limitations on a patrol zone you leave yourself OWL" ••• Seaforth may move to OPP ser- vice by the beginning of October. The town had originally anticipated a switch to provincial police service by Nov. 1. ••• Seaforth residents have been relatively quiet as the town opts to disband its municipal police force. "It would appear silence is con- sent," said Lin Steffler, Chairperson of the Seaforth Police Services Board. There were no more letters from residents about the issue since the last meeting. Seaforth Council and the Police Services Board have approved OPP service in principle but n disband- ment hearing is still required.